Discovery of Civil War map sheds new light on Antietam’s bloody aftermath

[JRD77VET]

Discovery of Civil War map sheds new light on Antietam’s bloody aftermath

A long-forgotten Civil War map has recently been rediscovered, shedding new light on the bloody aftermath of the battle of Antietam.

Some 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing following the battle on Sept. 17, 1862, which has been described as “the bloodiest day in American history.”

The S.G. Elliott Burial Map shows where 5,800 Americans were buried in temporary graves. The map, which is in the collection of the New York Public Library, was discovered by researchers looking for information on the battle of Gettysburg.

The map was digitized two years ago, but until its recent discovery in the library’s archives, it was unknown to experts. Earlier this year, researchers from the Adams County Historical Society in Gettysburg, Pa., found the map when they were looking for information on mapmaker Simon G. Elliott.


The S.G. Elliott Burial Map shows where 5,800 Americans were buried in temporary graves.

After discovering the map, the researchers notified National Park Service staff at Antietam National Battlefield.

The detailed map, like a counterpart that Elliott made following the battle of Gettysburg, was likely made in autumn 1864. “Although historians are still performing analysis of the map, more than 5,800 soldier burials are individually recorded, typically in groups associated with a particular regiment, also noted on the map,” explains the American Battlefield Trust, in a statement. “Field burials often saw soldiers interred by comrades, very close to where they fell, meaning that the map confirms the locations where units were engaged on the field.”


Whereas 18 soldiers were identified by name on Elliott’s Gettysburg map, more than 50 were identified on the Antietam map, according to ACHS Executive Director Andrew Dalton.


The long-forgotten map was recently rediscovered. (New York Public Library)

“Looking at this map, there can be no doubt in the truth of the statement that a battlefield is ‘hallowed ground,’ made so by the blood of soldiers,” said American Battlefield Trust President Jim Lighthizer in a statement. “The landscape at Antietam was turned into one vast cemetery, sacred to the memory of those who lost their lives in the struggle.”

Although most of the interments have been moved off the battlefield to Antietam National Cemetery, the map is nonetheless an incredible historical document.


“The Elliott map shows that dozens of men were once buried in the immediate vicinity of the national park’s visitor center,” said the American Battlefield Trust in its statement. “The 461 acres that have been protected by the American Battlefield Trust show evidence of more than 600 burials.”


The map is believed to be from autumn 1864. (New York Public Library)

Antietam was a crucial battle in the Civil War, ending the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion of the North. President Abraham Lincoln also issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the wake of the bloody clash.

The map effectively unlocks new aspects of the battle and its aftermath.

“This discovery reveals truths about the Battle of Antietam lost to time,” said American Battlefield Trust Chief Historian Garry Adelman in the statement. “It’s like the Rosetta Stone: by demonstrating new ways that primary sources already at our disposal relate to each other, it has the power to confirm some of our long-held beliefs — or maybe turn some of our suppositions on their heads.”


The S.G. Elliott Burial Map shows where 5,800 Americans were buried in temporary graves. (New York Public Library)

Civil War sites across the U.S. regularly offer fresh glimpses into the bloody conflict. Earlier this year, for example, an artillery shell from the Civil War was discovered in downtown Charleston.

A Civil War-era gravestone linked to the infamous Quantrill’s Raid was discovered last year in a Kansas forest.

Also in 2019, a Civil War cannonball was discovered lodged in a walnut tree at a historic house in Independence, Mo.


Nov. 6, 2011: Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., is a serene setting once wracked by violence in the bloodiest one-day battle on U.S. soil - file photo. (The Associated Press)

Earlier in the year, archaeologists in Delaware located the gravestone of a Civil War soldier that may provide a vital clue in uncovering a long-lost African-American cemetery.

In 2018, the remains of two Civil War soldiers were discovered in a surgeon’s burial pit at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Also in 2018, a vacationer on a North Carolina beach captured drone footage of a Civil War-era shipwreck.

In 2017, forensic linguists said they had likely unraveled the mystery surrounding a famous Civil War-era letter long believed to have been written by Lincoln.

In 2015, the remains of a Confederate warship were raised from the Savannah River in Georgia. The following year, the wreck of a large iron-hulled Civil War-era steamer was discovered off the coast of North Carolina. The ship, which was found off Oak Island, N.C., was tentatively identified as the blockade runner Agnes E. Fry.


The last person to receive a Civil War-era pension died in North Carolina last month, according to reports.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/disc...r-map-antietam

x too many

[Grey Ghost]

I've been there several times and participated in the reenactments there. The map is wonderful. I'm sure there is still tons of maps, photos, etc...hidden or buried in the national archives, libraries, museums, private collections, etc...across the US about CW battles. A lot of it unidentified or filed away and forgotten about like this map. Another problem is the majority of it not digitized or available online for us to help in identification. I google certain battlefields daily to see if anything new has popped up. But, that is relying on keywords and someone else having properly identified it in a map or photo.



My pic of Burnside's Bridge at Sharpsburg.



Some fellow reenactors from Alabama walking their ancestors unit colors along the sunken road.

[LisaJohn]

Do either of you gentlemen know about old tin type photos? Decades ago when we were moving my grandmother she had an old military photo and told me to just throw it away. She said it was from her stepmothers family. I couldn’t toss it so I have it. I keep thinking I might try to research it but I haven't.

[snide]

Originally Posted by LisaJohn

Do either of you gentlemen know about old tin type photos? Decades ago when we were moving my grandmother she had an old military photo and told me to just throw it away. She said it was from her stepmothers family. I couldn’t toss it so I have it. I keep thinking I might try to research it but I haven't.

Do the research. I'll bet you'll find something very interesting.

[VatorMan]

In a few years, it will be like the Civil war never happened. I’m giving the statues at Antietam and Gettysburg a year at the most.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by LisaJohn

Do either of you gentlemen know about old tin type photos? Decades ago when we were moving my grandmother she had an old military photo and told me to just throw it away. She said it was from her stepmothers family. I couldn’t toss it so I have it. I keep thinking I might try to research it but I haven't.

Grey Ghost will have a better understanding of value but depending on who is in the photo, it could be quite valuable.

YOU should do the research as you have the family connection (name) to look under. Once that picture is sold, the research becomes much more difficult.

[LisaJohn]

Thank you! I wasn’t thinking about the value! I remember my grandmother telling me that she didn’t know him. I will do some research.

[LisaJohn]

It’s in bad shape. I need to frame it. It says Jefferson D. Hines enlisted Nov 1901 for 3 years, assign to Co D. Thirtieth (or thirteenth) Regiment. Served under Gen Nelson Miles. Phillipines

[Grey Ghost]

Originally Posted by LisaJohn

It’s in bad shape. I need to frame it. It says Jefferson D. Hines enlisted Nov 1901 for 3 years, assign to Co D. Thirtieth (or thirteenth) Regiment. Served under Gen Nelson Miles. Phillipines

Are those individual tintypes around the center of different people? It's pretty cool!

No major wars going on at that time. There are people that collect old images/photography. Glad you saved it. Someone out there would enjoy it in their collection.

I'm guessing $100 or less.

Pricing is based on several factors:

Subject matter
Time period
Condition
Photographer
Subject(s) in the image

The highest priced images are usually confederates in uniform with guns and/or knives. Glass plate, tintype, followed by CDV format.

Check out this recent auction!

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/a-...cotton-3976308

[LisaJohn]

Originally Posted by Grey Ghost

Are those individual tintypes around the center of different people? It's pretty cool!

No major wars going on at that time. There are people that collect old images/photography. Glad you saved it. Someone out there would enjoy it in their collection.

I'm guessing $100 or less.

Pricing is based on several factors:

Subject matter
Time period
Condition
Photographer
Subject(s) in the image

The highest priced images are usually confederates in uniform with guns and/or knives. Glass plate, tintype, followed by CDV format.

Check out this recent auction!

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/a-...cotton-3976308

Yes, pictures of different men in uniform. The Hines man is also in one of the other pictures. I’m going to keep it. This thread reminded me that I had kept the picture. Thank you for the info!

[Grey Ghost]

Originally Posted by LisaJohn

Yes, pictures of different men in uniform. The Hines man is also in one of the other pictures. I’m going to keep it. This thread reminded me that I had kept the picture. Thank you for the info!

It is super cool!

You can put a sticker on the back of it with all the info you know about for future generations. That way it stays with it and does no harm to it or value. There are so many images that will forever be unknown to all of us. I even have a tub full of family pics from the last few decades that I don't know any of the people in them. If someone had just put a name on the back of them....

[Little Red L98.]

Ihave to check that out.

I knew one of the founders of the American Battlefield Trust when they were called The Association for the the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Brian Pohanka. Died of cancer in 05. Cool dude.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by Grey Ghost

Are those individual tintypes around the center of different people? It's pretty cool!

No major wars going on at that time. There are people that collect old images/photography. Glad you saved it. Someone out there would enjoy it in their collection.

I'm guessing $100 or less.

Pricing is based on several factors:

Subject matter
Time period
Condition
Photographer
Subject(s) in the image

The highest priced images are usually confederates in uniform with guns and/or knives. Glass plate, tintype, followed by CDV format.

Check out this recent auction!

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/a-...cotton-3976308

1901 was the era of gun boat diplomacy in the Philippines. We had just taken governance of the islands after the Spanish-American war. Maybe he was involved in that.

[Grey Ghost]

Originally Posted by Little Red L98.

Ihave to check that out.

I knew one of the founders of the American Battlefield Trust when they were called The Association for the the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Brian Pohanka. Died of cancer in 05. Cool dude.

Yep, he is a legend.

ABT is a great organization. They helped us secure a great portion of land near our local battlefield for protection. They do great Facebook Live videos from the battlefields usually on the anniversary dates. If anyone wants to donate any money to a worthy organization it would be them. They name changed a year or so ago, because they were trying to save Rev. war land, etc...along with the civil war battlefields.

[Little Red L98.]

Originally Posted by Grey Ghost

Yep, he is a legend.

ABT is a great organization. They helped us secure a great portion of land near our local battlefield for protection. They do great Facebook Live videos from the battlefields usually on the anniversary dates. If anyone wants to donate any money to a worthy organization it would be them. They name changed a year or so ago, because they were trying to save Rev. war land, etc...along with the civil war battlefields.

One of Brian’s first published works was a piece about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry when he was a teen. He swears Hollywood stole that idea from him and made it into the movie Glory. But of course he couldn’t prove it. He did help with the movie production tho.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Little Red L98.

Ihave to check that out.

I knew one of the founders of the American Battlefield Trust when they were called The Association for the the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Brian Pohanka. Died of cancer in 05. Cool dude.

That last name was same as an auto dealer in the Wash DC region.....I want to say OLDS.....but it's been 23 years since I moved from there......

[Little Red L98.]

Originally Posted by mrvette

That last name was same as an auto dealer in the Wash DC region.....I want to say OLDS.....but it's been 23 years since I moved from there......

Everyone in greater DC associates the name Pohanka with car dealerships. Big and reputable ones to be fair but Brian said he hated that shit and didn’t want anything to do with it.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Little Red L98.

Everyone in greater DC associates the name Pohanka with car dealerships. Big and reputable ones to be fair but Brian said he hated that shit and didn’t want anything to do with it.

Well, guess he got $$$$$ and invested......

[Olustee bus]

I don't know if this man was there but this is an interesting account.

YouTube

[Little Red L98.]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Well, guess he got $$$$$ and invested......

Everyone in his immediate family was in the business but him. He wanted to study history. I’m sure he didn’t want for anything growing up.